If you lost half of your income, but got memories of a a version of yourself living a life of leisure with that part of your income every night, would life be better or worse than it is right now?

No, absolutely not. Memory is no substitute for presence.

That's a wild question, cause for me and most of the people I know, a fantasy version of myself with double my income would mean not worrying about groceries, maybe a short trip out of the country once a year, being able to pay off debts, and affording some medical procedures that we've been putting off. Maybe saving some money so my kid isn't homeless in a few decades. Not some life of leisure.

To answer your question, though, it would be categorically worse.

This literally happened to me, only I lost way more than half my income.

It's horrible, and frequently remembering the life I had is very painful.

I can't work out what possible upside you think there is to this situation.

Oh god no. Not for any amount of money. What a total mindfuck that would be. Any person you meet, you wouldn't be able to tell if you met them before or if your memory twin did.

You would constantly be questioning everything you see and hear.

Small things would drive you crazy. You distinctly remember going to the grocery store yesterday, so why is the fridge empty again. You swear you washed your clothes yesterday, yet everything is dirty. You remember hearing the doorbell, but no one is there.

Bigger things would make everyone else think you are crazy.

Your best friend who you hang out with every weekend? Nope, your memory twins best friend. Just a casual acquaintance in this reality. And they get more weirded out every time you tell them you had a great time last friday.

You are talking to your wife of 20 years only to realize its not your wife, its your memory twins wife, this version of her doesn't know who you are, and she is panicingly trying to find her mace. The children you love, care for, and have watched grow up doesn't exist in this reality.

Then there is the repeated heartbreak when those people that are the same in both realities diverge in terrifying ways. You remember visiting your mother yesterday, talking to her, telling her you love her, hugging her goodbye. You also remember her dying 10 years ago and know you'll never see her again, except for in memories that keep coming that are not real.

Eventually you would just give up, accepting that you can't keep remebering two lives at once. So you withdraw from society. Lock yourself in a room and slowly wither away as you remember a better life happening right now.

I dont think you thought this out OP

If i divide my income to two people, both are gonna have to seek "leisure" under some bridge.

I worked a highly paid career in IT for 35 years. We bought a house, went to the movies whenever we wanted, had lots of nice things. Not super-rich, but upper middle class and very well off.

I was diagnosed with incurable blood cancer (multiple myeloma) in 2020 on the day that COVID lockdowns started in my city. Spent that year not responding to treatment, got tandem stem cell transplants in 2021, after follow-up chemotherapy I’m now in remission. Still suffering from anterograde amnesia and mental and physical fatigue, not really able to work.

I’d rather be here than dead, not working is ok. I’ve paid taxes for 35 years to contribute to society, now it’s my turn. Living on savings and welfare, not really leisure, but mostly comfortable.

The homeless guy in a box under a bridge has loads of leisure time. So do prisoners.

Leisure time may only be a good time if you're doing something you enjoy while you have it.

Hell no, I would just fall into a depression about how good the other me has it and how I can't get there. This would 10000% suck on all levels

Undoubtedly worse.

I would rather spend half my money to let my kid have experiences that they tell me about excitedly at dinner every night.

I don’t have any income at the moment so I’d take this deal.

But only because I’m curious what a life of leisure with the exact same material conditions would look like, as alternate me wouldn’t be benefiting any more than actual me would be losing out.

Don't joke about identity theft, Jim, it's a serious crime

OP did you just watch the classic film Total Recall?